1st Session

No. 909

CONTINUATION OF FEDERAL SURPLUS COMMODITIES CORPORATION

MAY 28, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. JONES, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 2439]

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (S. 2439) to extend the time for purchase and distribution of surplus agricultural commodities for relief purposes and to continue the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass.

Below are given some excerpts from a letter signed by the Secretary of Agriculture, which will explain the purposes of the bill:

DEAR MR. SPEAKER: On June 30, 1937 there will expire the amendment included in Public, No. 440, Seventy-fourth Congress, to section 32 of the act approved August 24, 1935 (Public, No. 320, 74th Cong.), which amendment permits the Secretary of Agriculture in carrying out clause 2 of section 32, if he finds that the purposes of said section are accomplished thereby, to purchase without regard to section 3709, Revised Statutes, agricultural commodities and products thereof, including purchases for donation to the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation. Furthermore, pursuant to section 7 of the Deficiency Act approved June 22, 1936 (Public, No. 739, 74th Cong.), additional legislation will be required to authorize the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation to continue its functions after June 30, 1937.

During the fiscal years 1936 and 1937, the method of effectuating the purposes of clause 2 of said section 32, which the above amendment authorizes and which the existence of the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation makes possible, has been found to be particularly adapted to the diversion of miscellaneous surplus perishable commodities and other agricultural surpluses, requiring rapid removal from the normal channels of trade and commerce. During the period above mentioned, the instrumentality of the Corporation has been employed by the Department of Agriculture in meeting the surplus and diversion problems of 37 different agricultural commodities through procurement and distribution in all 48 States.

The recommended legislation is designed to facilitate the administration of clause 2 of section 32 by continuing the Federal Surplus Commodities Corporation as a recognized agency of the United States, under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture, from the date the legislation is approved until June 30, 1939, for effecting the removal of surplus agricultural commodities through direct

purchase and distribution. By this legislation the Secretary of Agriculture will be furnished with a complete operating and administrative unit able to procure surplus agricultural commodities, to arrange for processing them when necessary and to transport and distribute them on a wholesale or carlot basis, auditing and accounting and paying all expenses in connection therewith. Thus, execution of programs involving the purchase of highly perishable commodities and the rapid removal of suddenly developing surpluses will continue to be feasible because the technicalities and difficulties of ordinary Government routine, which was not developed for and is not adapted to the accomplishment of the purposes of clause 2 of section 32, will be avoided.

After

Under the proposal recommended, section 32 funds would not be expended until a program has been carefully planned, discussed, and formulated by the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in the same manner as such programs are now developed and the Secretary of Agriculture has formally found the execu tion of the program necessary to the effectuation of clause 2 of section 32. a program has been so developed and approved, the Corporation will then execute it, in strict accordance with the terms and conditions outlined by the Secretary, and will conduct such execution, pursuant to directions from time to time issued by the Secretary, in the manner followed at the present time.

As required by Budget Circular 336, this proposed legislation has been submitted to the Bureau of the Budget and on February 9, 1937, the Acting Director thereof advised the Department that its transmission to Congress with a request for its enactment into law would not be in conflict with the program of the President.

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75TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session

ADMISSION TO CITIZENSHIP OF ALIENS WHO CAME INTO THIS COUNTRY PRIOR TO FEBRUARY 5, 1917

MAY 28, 1937.-Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed

Mr. KRAMER, from the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 6785]

The Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6785) for the admission to citizenship of aliens who came into this country prior to February 5, 1917, having considered the same, report it back to the House without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of this bill is to amend the present naturalization laws so as to admit to citizenship persons who came to the United States. prior to February 5, 1917, and who have failed to qualify for citizenship because they lack the educational requirements as prescribed by the present law.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The committee held a public hearing on this bill. The author of the bill appeared and made a statement in support of same. The information placed before the committee is briefly as follows:

That before the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, was enacted there was no literacy test and aliens were admitted without regard to their educational qualifications.

The aliens coming to this country prior to this date were in most instances persons of mature age, who engaged immediately in various occupations and the work of upbuilding and developing the country. That in rearing, educating, and providing for their families they had no time to acquire the education that would admit them to citizenship. It was pointed out that an amendment of this kind would in no way lower the standard of citizenship, because the group to benefit by the amendment is definite in numbers and is limited to three important reuirements:

First, they must be 50 years of age or over; second, they must have entered the country prior to February 5, 1917; third, they must have filed application for citizenship prior to the passage of this amendment. It appears also that the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906, section 4, second paragraph contained a similar provision which applied to persons who had filed declaration of intention before the passage of the act.

During the public hearing on this bill there was no opposition by any department to the same.

The bill proposes to add a subdivision to section 4 of the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906, to follow immediately after paragraph 14 of said section, which is the last paragraph of said section and to designate said subdivision as "fifteen".

In compliance with paragraph 2-A of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives changes in existing law made by this bill are shown as follows (existing law in which no change is made is printed in Roman; the new matter is printed in italics):

SECTION 4. NATURALIZATION ACT OF JUNE 29, 1906 (34 STAT. 596), AS AMENDED SEC. 4. That an alien may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States in the following manner and not otherwise (34 Stat. 596; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 372). First. He shall declare on oath before the clerk of any court authorized by this act to naturalize aliens, or his authorized deputy, in the district in which such alien resides, two years at least prior to his admission, and after he has reached the age of eighteen years, that it is bona fide his intention to become a citizen of the United States and to reside permanently therein, and that he will, before being admitted to citizenship, renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, State, or sovereignty, and particularly, by name, to the prince, potentate, State, or sovereignty of which the alien may be at the time of admission a citizen or subject. Such declaration shall set forth the name, age, occupation, personal description, place of birth, last foreign residence, the date of arrival, the name of the vessel, if any, in which he came to the United States, and the present place of residence in the United States of said alien. No declaration of intention or petition for naturalization shall be made outside of the office of the clerk of court.

Second. Not less than two years nor more than seven years after he has made such declaration of intention he shall make and file, in duplicate, a petition in writing, signed by the applicant in his own handwriting and duly verified, in which petition such applicant shall state his full name, his place of residence (by street and number, if possible), his occupation, and, if possible, the date and place of his birth; the place from which he emigrated, and the date and place of his arrival in the United States, and, if he entered through a port, the name of the vessel on which he arrived; the time when and the place and name of the court where he declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States; if he is married he shall state the name of his wife and, if possible, the country of her nativity and her place of residence at the time of filing his petition; and if he has children, the name, date, and place of birth and place of residence of each child living at the time of the filing of his petition: Provided, That if he has filed his declaration before the passage of this act [of June 29, 1906] he shall not be required to sign the petition in his own handwriting.

The petition shall set forth that he is not a disbeliever in or opposed to organized government, or a member of or affiliated with any organization or body of persons teaching disbelief in or opposed to organized government, a polygamist, or believer in the practice of polygamy, and that it is his intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by name to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he at the time of filing of his petition may be a citizen or subject, and that it is his intention to reside permanently within the United States, and whether or not he has been denied admission as a citizen of the United States, and, if denied, the ground or grounds of such denial, the court or courts in which such decision was rendered and that the cause for such denial has since been cured or removed, and every fact material to his naturalization and required to be proved upon the final hearing of his application (34 Stat. 596; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 379).

As to each period of residence at any place in the county where the petitioner resides at the time of filing his petition, there shall be included in the petition the affidavits of at least two credible witnesses, citizens of the United States, stating that each has personally known the petitioner to have been a resident at such place for such period, and that the petitioner is, and during all such period has been, a person of good moral character.

At the time of filing his petition there shall be filed with the clerk of the court a certificate from the Department of * * * Labor, if the petitioner arrives in the United States after the passage of this act [of June 29, 1906], stating the date, place, and manner of his arrival in the United States, and the declaration of intention of such petitioner, which certificate and declaration shall be attached to and made a part of said petition (34 Stat. 597; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 380).

Third. He shall, before he is admitted to citizenship, declare on oath in open court that he will support the Constitution of the United States, and that he absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly by name to the prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which he was before a citizen or a subject; that he will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and allegiance to the same (34 Stat. 597-598; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 281).

Fourth. No alien shall be admitted to citizenship unless (1) immediately preceding the date of his petition the alien has resided continuously within the United States for at least five years and within the county where the petitioner resided at the time of filing his petition for at least six months, (2) he has resided continuously within the United States from the date of his petition up to the time of his admission to citizenship, and (3) during all the periods referred to in this subdivision he has behaved as a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. At the hearing of the petition, residence in the county where the petitioner resides at the time of filing his petition, and the other qualifications required by this subdivision during such residence, shall be proved by the oral testimony of at least two credible witnesses, citizens of the United States, in addition to the affidavits required by this act to be included in the petition. If the petitioner has resided in two or more places in such county and for this reason two witnesses cannot be procured to testify as to all such residence, it may be proved by the oral testimony of two such witnesess for each such place of residence, in addition to the affidavits required by this act to be included in the petition. At the hearing, residence within the United States but outside the county, and the other qualifications required by this subdivision during such residence, shall be proved either by depositions made before a naturalization examiner or by the oral testimony of at least two such witnesses for each place of residence.

If an individual returns to the country of his allegiance and remains therein for a continuous period of more than six months and less than one year during the period immediately preceding the date of filing the petition for citizenship for which continuous residence is required as a condition precedent to admission to citizenship, the continuity of such residence shall be presumed to be broken, but such presumption may be overcome by the presentation of satisfactory evidence that such individual had a reasonable cause for not returning to the United States prior to the expiration of such six months. Absence from the United States for a continuous period of one year or more during the period immediately preceding the date of filing the petition for citizenship for which continuous residence is required as a condition precedent to admission to citizenship shall break the continuity of such residence, except that in the case of an alien declarant for citizenship employed by or under contract with the Government of the United State or an American institution of research recognized as such by the Secretary of Labor, or employed by an American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States or a subsidiary thereof, no period of residence outside the United States shall break the continuity of residence if (1) prior to the beginning of such period (whether such period begins before or after his departure from the United States) the alien has established to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Labor that his absence from the United States for such period is to be on behalf of such Government, or for the purpose of carrying on scientific research on behalf of such institution, or to be engaged in the development of such foreign trade and commerce or whose residence abroad is necessary to the protection of the property rights in such countries of such firm or corporation, and (2) such alien proves to the satisfaction of the court that his absence from the United States for such period has been for such purpose.